Ayesha Omar's football flick Mera Lyari set to make its TV premiere this Friday
If you missed Mera Lyari during its limited theatrical release in Pakistan, fret not because the football flick is coming to your TV screen on Friday night.
Sindh Films announced the movie’s TV premiere on Tuesday in an Instagram post shared jointly with executive producer Ayesha Omar and director Abu Aleeha.
The post said the movie will be aired on a number of channels including Geo Kahani, Express Entertainment, A Plus, Green Entertainment, TV One, Sindh TV, KTN, Khyber and Filmax at 10pm on July 31.
Mera Lyari stars Omar alongside Dananeer Mobeen, Trinette Lucas, Samiya Mumtaz, Nayyar Ejaz, Paras Masroor, Adnan Shah Tipu and Shoaib Hassan.
The film follows a disabled football coach (Omar) who returns home to Lyari after escaping an abusive marriage to conduct trials for girls in the area. There, Afsana (Mobeen), in defiance of her strict father, and Kushmala (Lucas), running from a forced marriage, find an escape in the beautiful game, training in secret with the coach for a shot at competing on a national level.
The director said one of the film’s greatest strengths was its authenticity. He said “80 per cent of the cast — including supporting actors, members of the local football teams and even our hero Shoaib Hassan — are actual Lyari inhabitants”.
Being a project of the Government of Sindh, the film was hailed by Information Minister Sharjeel Memon in December as a response to “negative propaganda” surrounding Pakistan and Lyari — jingoistic Indian spy-thriller Dhurandhar was largely set in the area.
The minister said the film would show “the true face of Lyari: peace, prosperity, and pride”.
Before its cinema run in Pakistan in May, the movie screened in London at the UK Asian Film Festival.
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